Illumination
by xheartxfeltx
Summary: "You know, someday you're gonna have to let a little bit of sunshine in through your cracks."


_**I just don't know guys, I really don't. I want them to have fluff, but I don't want to go through the effort of figuring out how they got together, there are SO many other authors out there who do it better. So here, the ends that justify the means.**_

_**I don't own, I don't profit**_

* * *

"You know, someday you're gonna have to let a little bit of sunshine in through your cracks." It was just an off hand comment from Hylla. She rarely pulled her punches when it came to her younger sister.

"I don't know what you mean." but she does and she's left trying to ignore the sting of accusal about her broken existence. Hylla really did mean well.

"Don't play stupid, it doesn't become you."

"And you know me _so_ well?" she is tiring of this conversation. Years spent in silence does not give her sister permission to analyze her every molecule.

"Does anyone know you Reyna?" And Hylla retreats, snatching the last word as per usual.

Not that Reyna had anything left to say.

Nothing that either of them would believe anyway.

* * *

Leo has a smile that shines like the sun. It's airy and light and full of warmth.

Nearly everything she isn't.

And it's unfair of her to soak in its rays but he is so unselfish with himself that it makes her yearn for the kind of spark he offers. The one that requires nothing of her, all he wants is the chance to _be_ with her.

And really that is so out of the realm of possibilities that she almost scoffs at his every attempt.

But still he persists, and slowly she gives in until there's little more than sunshine in his eyes and promise on his lips.

Lips that grin while he's busy paying particular attention to _that_ spot behind her ear.

"Leo," she groans, "It is way too early!"

"Oh I'm sorry, did you have somewhere you had to be?" He laughs and trails his mouth to her collar bone, open mouth kisses that make her breath hitch.

"No, but I was having a rather pleasant dream." she protests but still tilts her head to the side, allowing him full access to the long column of her neck. He knew what she liked.

"Dreams are just roads leading to disappointment." he jokes as he slides his hand along her hip. Her back arches up to meet him. "I'm just saving you from that heart-break."

"How cynical of you." she mutters and tries to control the fluttering of her heart, but it was so hard when he was wrapped around her and there was really no place to hide.

"I learned from the best." he whispers and _finally_ kisses her properly.

It's almost too warm. The way his body ignites combined with the summer heat has her gasping for breath, it's _almost_ too much.

But she's too entrenched to give it up.

He sees her cracks; knows where they stem from and how deep they run. She's seen his as well, and they're such a broken pair it's almost a trope; the cold praetor and the warm repair boy.

He sometimes jokes that she's so far out of his league he needs his flying ship just to reach her. She hates that he thinks so little of himself, assumes that she had to _settle_ with him. It is so far from being the truth.

But in all fairness they both have a bit of an inferiority complex, which makes for interesting arguments about who can do better than who, and which one of them doesn't deserve the other. But their bickering leads them nowhere so they opt to focus on more important things.

Like the way his fingers stroke across her skin, for example.

"Where did you go?" he mumbles, trailing his lips along her jaw.

"Thinking about you actually." She grins and he scoffs. "No, really." she assures him. And it shouldn't be a shock that her thoughts dwell on him when they're wrapped up in each other like this. But it's his self-esteem that makes him hesitate, the part of him that can't _quite_ believe that she actually wants to be here. It's the pieces of him that make him go dark, and she hates it.

"Yeah? Like what?" he's asking with a sarcastic voice, but she can see he's genuinely curious.

"Well for starters, I'm thinking about your hair," she tugs her fingers through his curls, one of his weaknesses if the soft groan he lets escape is any indication.

"I'm thinking about your eyes," and she draws herself up onto her elbows, planting a kiss under each of them. They're the color of chocolate and she does so _love_ chocolate.

"But I'm mostly thinking about your smile." Reyna runs a gentle finger along his bottom lip and he gifts her with one of his grins, full blown and nothing held back, dimples and everything. She laughs and kisses one of the indents, they always seem to make her heart skip a beat.

He lights up again and she breathes a sigh of relief. He's like the sun for her, and she likes to think that he's patching up her cracks when he shines like this.

Not that she's admitted how much he means to her, neither of them have. They're still too hesitant and full of doubt to open up to the possibility of heartbreak.

But for now they have each other; and it's enough, or so she hopes.

It's enough to have him lean his forehead against her own and whisper her name in such a way that she thinks he might be offering up a prayer. And it's enough that she can loop her arms around his shoulders and tug him closer, tucking his head into the crook of her neck.

She never lets anyone this close, but she makes the exception for him. Because he makes her better and asks nothing in return. And she likes to think she's selfish enough to grab everything he has to offer. Maybe in the process, she helps him a little bit too.

Maybe something of herself shines through her cracks and illuminates the darkness he hides away.

Maybe it _is_ enough.


End file.
